Fire ravages 2 hotels in Darjeeling

Amitava Banerjee, MP, 9 Nov 2023, Darjeeling: A fire broke out in Darjeeling in the wee hours of Thursday. Multiple floors of two hotels were gutted in the fire. The fire also partially damaged nearby residences. 

However, there was no report of loss of life or injury. About three fire engines aided by local residents battled the fire for more than five hours. The fire broke out at around 12.45 am on Thursday at Hotel Siddharth on Dr Zakir Hussain Road near the residence of the Superintendent of Police. 

“Some local residents on bikes started honking, warning everyone that a fire had broken out. I came down to see a fire raging in one of the floors of Hotel Siddharth. There was a delay in opening the gates of the hotel and the fire soon spread to my hotel also,” said Satyam of Hotel Golden Orchid. Both the hotels suffered extensive damage.

The fire brigade was called in. “As it was night the roads were empty and so we reached within minutes of getting the call. It took us more than 5 hours to bring the fire under control. 

Not taking any chances as it is a congested area, we called in the second fire tender from Dali, Darjeeling and the third from Kurseong. The cause of the fire is being investigated. No one was injured or lost their life in the fire,” stated SI Tarun Kumar Konar of Darjeeling Fire Station. 

The occupants of the rooms of both the hotels were evacuated as the fire raged. “At night we were woken up and asked to evacuate. 

Though we managed to escape unhurt, all our belongings, including cash, passport and clothes were gutted in the fire. We could not save anything. We have got in touch with the administration for help,” stated Rishika, a tourist from Kolkata. 

She along with two others had arrived at Darjeeling on Wednesday. They have return flight tickets from Bagdogra on Friday. Local residents claim that the fire broke out from an electric heater from a room in Hotel Siddharth.

Courtesy & source- Millennium Post

https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/fire-ravages-2-hotels-in-darjeeling-539903